Is Russia’s Melinvest making a move on Egypt? Russian grain storage and handling facilities manufacturer Melinvest is considering investing in Egypt, the company’s rep in Egypt Magdy Shahata tells Al Borsa. The company would open line of credit worth hundreds of mns of USD with Russian lenders to develop silos in Egypt, said Shahata, who added that the company had participated in the development of a 3 mn tonnes-capacity grain logistical center. The announcement comes as Blumberg Grain has apparently been told the state won’t be working with it for part 2 of the “shounas program.” Phase one saw Blumberg build 105 shounas for the government in time for harvest collection season, with an eye to developing 300 more as part of phase two. After its shounas were not utilized during the collection season by the Supply Ministry, which has been embroiled in the wheat corruption scandal, the ministry refused to sign for phase two, potentially severing a long term relationship Blumberg Grain. That’s prompted reports, which we noted last month, that Blumberg may favour growing in Algeria, where we had previously noted it was finalizing a contract.

Meanwhile, the Supply Ministry is catching more heat for relying on privately operated silos, when there were plenty more government-run silos available, a source from the House of Representatives’ committee investigating wheat fraud tells Al Borsa. Of the 517 silos available, only 135 are private sector-run, said the source. The committee is expected to submit its report on the scandal this week.